Date: Sat, 18 Aug 2001 06:59:16 -0700 (PDT)
From: Author James
Subject: Adventures of a Real Dark Knight 25
Disclaimer: This story, though maybe not in this chapter but in subsequent
chapters, will have celebrities in it. I have no knowledge of their
sexuality and this is not intended to imply their sexuality. This is all
from my own mind. Scary!! People actually get a glimpse into my mind!!!
Buffy, the Vampire Slayer, Angel and all related characters created by Joss
Whedon. Copyright 20th Century Fox.
Batman, and all related characters created by Bob Kane. Copyright DC Comics
and Warner Bros.
X-MEN, and all related characters created by Stan Lee. Copyright Marvel
Comics and 20th Century Fox.
Star Trek and all related characters created by Gene Roddenberry.
Copyright Paramount Studios.
I don't know for sure if I will use all the above elements, but just in
case, I have myself covered.
In this story, which has been floating around in my head most of my life,
you will find many universes merging, as the above copyrights reveal. I
hope you all enjoy this. I appreciate any feedback that you may want to
give. This story doesn't deal so much with sex, sex, sex, but more of my
feelings that I struggled with and am starting to come to terms with. Part
of his background is mine. I do hope that you enjoy it!!!
I have received many emails from people who have enjoyed it and some from
those who do not. I would enjoy hearing from you. Any emails you send,
please tell me what chapter and story you are commenting on. Thanks.
jmsotc@yahoo.com
Chapter 25 Venus' Fly Trap
Robin and I split up now looking for two people: Poison Ivy and
Nightwing. As safe a bet as it would be to search for Nightwing (we knew
that he was searching for Ivy), I preferred searching for Ivy. She had her
son. Who knew what all she planned for him? When dealing with a
psychopath, caution is the best way to go.
'Perhaps she went back to her greenhouse,' I thought. But how
could I be sure? And why would she go back to someplace that we already
knew she hid? It was the only lead I had.
I looked for Robin and when I found him told him of my plan. He
agreed to stay in town and look. Unfortunately we had no way of contacting
each other in case we found her. It was too late to worry about that now.
We had more pressing issues to concern ourselves with.
I headed for the greenhouse, but moved slowly enough to give a
quick observation of buildings I was passing. As I moved, I relaxed my
mind. It was feeling strained at the moment. To my surprise what happened
with a patient in Los Angeles was happening again. I felt my mind stretch
out and brush other minds, other feelings to be more precise. I could
sense surrounding emotions. There was a prostitute who was worried about
making enough money to eat. I could sense a man's concern for contracting
AIDS. I felt the sadness of a teenager afraid of...afraid that her
parents would find out she was a lesbian. I wanted to stop and comfort
them. I guess that's the nurturer in me, wanting to take care of others.
I decided to use this to an advantage. I would have to analyze
later how I did it...but for right now, I had a missing child to find. I
kept moving, sweeping out a little further, searching for a thought of fear
of a parent or authority figure. I did feel several emotions surrounding
authority figures, but they turned out to be duds. One was a person
fearing police officers and one concerned sexual bondage and sadomasochism.
As I moved closer to the greenhouse, I began to sense on the
fringes of my mind fear and sadness and loss. Those were certainly things
that Jack would be feeling. I slowed down my movement, trying to pinpoint
the location. I wish I had a way to contact Nightwing and Robin. It would
have been a plus to get their help.
The location of the feelings was a little house a block from the
greenhouse. I made my way to the greenhouse and found it dark, save for
one light coming from the basement. I peered into it and saw Poison Ivy
and her son Jack. He had been crying as his face was streaked with tears,
and he looked at his mom, if she could even be called that, with a look of
terror. No child should have to go through something like this.
I moved quickly to the front door and tried to open it. It was
locked. I tried to force it with a kick, but it held fast. I stepped back
and held out my hand. It began to glow red and a concentrated ball of fire
formed. I threw it at the door and blew it off its hinges. So much for
the sneaking in part. It was now force my way in, punch my way through.
I stepped in to find the place heavily populated with plants: trees
in pots, ferns in hanging baskets, and flowers growing out of anything that
would hold a decent amount of dirt. I smelled a strange odor in the room.
Perhaps the plants were germinating.
I felt the room spin as I became dizzy. Whatever the odor was, it
was some kind of knockout drug...and if I didn't act fast, I would soon
be unconscious, at the very least...dead at the most.
I reached out and began to manipulate electrical molecules. Little
lightning bolts were forming at my fingertips. Volts of electricity
stretched out and surrounded me. I saw the shocks, like a bug zapper, arc
out and hit whatever was in the air. The dizziness was fading. I walked
toward the kitchen where doors to basements usually resided. And sure
enough, that's where I found it. The electrical field faded and I tried
the door. It was unlocked. Poison Ivy obviously didn't think that anyone
would get past the knockout pollen. I stepped into the dark dank
basement...and fell with a thud on the hard concrete. Vines immediately
wrapped around me and picked me up.
"Look at what the fly trap dragged in. Tell me, how did you find
me? I left no clue as to where I was going."
"I just took a chance that you would be heading back to your
greenhouse. It was sheer luck that I investigated the lit basement
window." I didn't want her to know the truth.
"Congratulations. You are the luckiest bastard I have ever met."
"And you are the most insane person I have ever met."
"Oh, I doubt that. My insanity has some vague reasoning behind it.
There are others more psycho than I."
"I'm sure there are. But I was referring to beings I've met. And
I've met all kinds of beings: vampires, demons, mutants...but you take
the top."
"Anyways," Poison Ivy said, blowing me off. "You're here and I get
to kill you." She turned to her son. "Looky, Jack. Look at the bad man.
Do you know how I can tell he's bad? He wears the color of bad people,
black! Your mommy wears green! The color of life!"
"You're not my mom. I have two moms and you are not either one. I
want my mommies!" Jack began to cry.
"I'm your mother!" Poison Ivy yelled. "They are not! They are
evil! They destroy the world by their actions!"
Jack jumped at Poison Ivy's loud rampage. It had to end. No more
fear for him. I manipulated electrical molecules and bolts of lightning
shot out at the vines, shocking them, cooking them, causing them to release
me. I fell to the floor and stood quickly. Poison Ivy turned to me.
"NO! You cannot stop me! You will not stop me!"
"Consider yourself stopped."
Ivy pulled out a knife.
"I can fight, too, big boy, in case you forgot."
"No, I didn't forget."
Poison Ivy swung her knife at me. I ducked and she kicked me in
the face. I fell backwards. She swung her knife around and brought it
down toward my chest. I rolled away at the last minute and stood up as she
brought it up at me. I stepped aside and grabbed her wrist. I brought my
hand down on her hand, hoping to dislodge the knife from her grip. She
dropped the knife. I threw her arm to her side and backhanded her in the
face. Then I threw her into her plants.
"Fool! My plants work FOR me, not AGAINST me!"
Poison Ivy moved her arms out and vines snaked out toward me. I
manipulated heat molecules and shot out small rays of heat. The lasers hit
the ends of the vines, scorching them. They shriveled away in pain.
"Try again, Ivy."
"Oh, I intend to."
Poison Ivy pointed her wrist at me and an arrow flew out at me. I
ducked as it flew over my head. I rolled forward and kicked her knocking
her back. Then I flipped up.
Poison Ivy recovered from my blow to her stomach and pulled out a
vine. She whipped it at me. I hit me and I hunched over in pain. Then
she swung it again and wrapped it around my throat. She pulled and my air
was cut off.
"Prepare to die!"
I heard a crash as glass was being broken.
"Get Jack out of here, Robin!" I heard Nightwing call. "It's over,
Patricia!"
"You don't get it, do you, Robby?! He's my son, damn it! I am his
mother! I will raise him!"
"Raise him to do what? Hate? Despise? Seek revenge?"
I slowly loosened the vine as her grip had relaxed the vine's hold.
"I will raise him to believe in my ideals, my principles! Not
yours!"
"In case you've forgotten, your principles brought him into the
world! You were twenty-four when I was fourteen! You seduced me to having
sex with you!"
"Your hormones were raging, too, Robby! And I didn't have to do
much! You loved me!"
"That may be. But I didn't know you were this corrupt, this evil.
I don't want my son around that."
"But you want him around your example? To be with someone ten
years his senior?"
"Patricia, once he is old enough to understand love, age won't
matter to him. And in case you didn't notice, he's not living with me."
"He's living with two frickin' lesbians! What are they going to
teach him?"
I pulled the vine away and stood up quietly.
"Love, Patty. Those two women are going to teach him unconditional
love. They are going to love him regardless of what he is. They are not
going to force any ideals on him. They won't require him to be anything
more than what he is. They will teach him respect and decency. Something
you and I could not give him, especially by our example."
"Bastard," Poison Ivy said turning toward me.
I jerked the vine and pulled her to me.
"I'm not going to let you get away this time."
"This is not for you to decide, Batfink."
Before anyone could react, Poison Ivy shot an arrow at Nightwing
and hit him in the stomach. He doubled over in pain.
"Stop me or save him. Your choice."
I release my grip on Ivy and ran over to Nightwing. I examined his
wound. A doctor I was not. But I knew enough not to pull her arrow out.
If it went deep enough, it could have punctured an internal organ. If I
pulled it out, whatever damage it did would have its full affect.
Poison Ivy blew me a kiss and grabbed a bottle from off a table.
She used a match and lit it.
"Sorry, babies. I have to kill the rodents or they will destroy
all of us."
Poison Ivy threw the bottle down and ran up the stairs. The flames
quickly ignited the plants.
"Are you okay?" I asked Nightwing.
"I will be. This hurts."
"I'm sure it's no picnic. Can you walk?"
"I'll try."
Nightwing stood up and then tumbled. He needed to get to a
hospital desperately. I picked him up and ran up the steps. When I got
outside, Poison Ivy and her car were gone. I looked for Robin. He came
out of the shadows.
"Where is the nearest hospital?"
"About five blocks that way."
"Get Jack to his parents, now. I'm getting Nightwing to a
hospital."
Robin took off with Jack in tow. I looked down at Nightwing and
realized I would have to strip him of his suit to protect his identity.
Poison Ivy already knew who he was so that wasn't an issue. I figured out
who he was, and his secret was safe with me. I moved him to the shadows
and grabbed at his mask. His hand went up and grabbed my wrist.
"No," he said.
"Nightwing, I'm doing this to keep your secret safe. I have to get
you to a hospital. If I don't, you could die. I don't want that to
happen. I need you out here with me. Please, trust me."
Nightwing relaxed his grip and then removed his hand from my wrist.
Quickly I disrobed him. All he had on was a pair of boxer briefs and
socks. Thank goodness the night was not too cool. I carried him to the
hospital, moving faster than normal, thanks to my mutant ability.
I got to the hospital and barged into the ER. The doctors and
nurses stared at me in shock.
"This man needs help. He has a small arrow in his abdomen."
A doctor ran over to me. He looked at Robby.
"Sit him on the girney. How long ago did this happen?"
"Around five or ten minutes ago. There may be poison on the arrow,
but I'm not sure."
"At least you didn't yank out the arrow. That would have done more
damage than anything." The doctor turned from me to one of the nurses.
"Nurse, get the OR prepped for emergency surgery."
I took the opportunity of him being turned around to disappear out
of the hospital.
I headed back to the house and found it in flames. Poison Ivy did
her damage. Her house was up in flames, probably nothing left to examine,
no way of determining any other hideouts. She got away. But at least her
plan to take her son was stopped.
The Penguin walks into his office at the Iceberg Lounge. He takes
off his overcoat and sits his weapons on the table. The telephone rings
and he presses a button.
"Percival Gwynn. Who may I ask is calling?"
"This is Talia, Percy. Did you accomplish your task?"
"No."
"No? Father will be most displeased."
"I could give a rat's ass about what your father thinks. You
didn't tell me he was a mutant. Had I know that, I would have been better
prepared."
"Then prepare for next time."
"Next time? If you want me to go after a mutant, you are going to
have to pay me more. Mutants are more dangerous."
"How so?"
"Some of them have built-in weaponry. Obviously this guy does. I
am going to have to take extra precautions."
"Done."
"You haven't even heard my price."
"If you are as good as you claim, it is enough. If you fail us,
father will not be very happy with you at all."
"Whatever."
Percy pressed the button hanging up on his caller.
"Who would have thought a singer would be dating a mutant
superhero? Hey, it could happen. I guess it did."
I crept into the house through the back so as not to be seen from
the streets and the cops at Beth and Sheila's. I had met with Robin
briefly and told him Nightwing was at the hospital being taken care of. He
informed me Jack was with his mothers and the police were investigating the
crime. I told him to go that I would keep an eye out for a little while
longer and he left.
I stripped out of my suit and found Lance sleeping in the bedroom.
I showered and hopped into bed. I put my arms around Lance's side and
stomach. I killed him on the back of the head and he turned opening his
tired eyes.
"Hey...how was it tonight?"
"It was okay."
"Did you stop whatever you were trying to stop?"
"Yeah. It was rough...dangerous, even."
"Were you hurt?" a new concern appeared in Lance's voice.
"No. I'm fine. But I could have been. Someone else was. He's at
the hospital now."
"Was it Robin?"
"No. There's another guy. Nightwing."
"Where in the world do they come from?"
"Don't know. Everyone has their reasons for being out there, I
guess."
"I'm glad you weren't hurt. I don't know what I'd do without you."
I leaned in and kissed Lance on the lips.
"I'm not planning on going anywhere. Not for a long, long, long
time."
"Good. Cause if anyone hurts you, I'll have to suit up and kick
their butts!"
"I'm glad I have you for my knight in shining armor. You are so
good to me."
We fell asleep in each other's arms.
To Be Continued...
Poison Ivy is defeated. Jack is safe. We get some interaction and facts
between Nightwing and Poison Ivy. What do you think? Yes, Poison Ivy is
still at large, but she may not appear for a long time. She was defeated.
She needs time to recuperate. More good stuff to come! Keep reading!
Oh, do you like the idea of the Penguin being a tough guy hit man? Let me
know!
Also, this is the halfway mark in the saga of "Adventures of a Real Dark
Knight". Let me know what you think of this series. Did you like it
better than "Tales of a Real Dark Knight" or did it come up lacking? Only
25 more chapters to go before this set of 50 closes out. But don't worry.
When it closes out, keep an eye out for the third set of 50 chapters titled
"Chronicles of a Real Dark Knight". I've said it before, this series could
go on forever!